Notice2023-27647
Notice of Availability of the Draft ANCSA 17(d)(1) Withdrawals Environmental Impact Statement, Alaska
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
December 15, 2023
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentLand Management Bureau
Abstract
In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (NEPA), and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, as amended (FLPMA), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announces the availability of the Draft ANCSA 17(d)(1) Withdrawals Environmental Impact Statement.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 240 (Friday, December 15, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 240 (Friday, December 15, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 86925-86926]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-27647]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[BLM_AK_FRN_MO4500169067]
Notice of Availability of the Draft ANCSA 17(d)(1) Withdrawals
Environmental Impact Statement, Alaska
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of
1969, as amended (NEPA), and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act
of 1976, as amended (FLPMA), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
announces the availability of the Draft ANCSA 17(d)(1) Withdrawals
Environmental Impact Statement.
DATES: To afford the BLM the opportunity to consider comments in the
Final EIS, please ensure that the BLM receives your comments within 60
days following the date the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
publishes its Notice of Availability (NOA) of the Draft EIS in the
Federal Register. The EPA usually publishes its NOAs on Fridays.
ADDRESSES: The Draft EIS is available for review on the BLM ePlanning
project website at <a href="https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2018002/510">https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2018002/510</a>.
Written comments related to the Draft ANCSA 17(d)(1) Withdrawals
EIS may be submitted by any of the following methods:
<bullet> ePlanning website: <a href="https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2018002/510">https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2018002/510</a>.
<bullet> Mail: ANCSA 17(d)(1) EIS, BLM Anchorage District Office,
Attn: Racheal Jones, 4700 BLM Road. Anchorage, Alaska 99507.
<bullet> Hand Deliver comments to: BLM Alaska State Office, BLM
Alaska Public Information Center, 222 West 7th Avenue (First Floor),
Anchorage, Alaska.
Documents pertinent to this proposal may be examined online at
<a href="https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2018002/510">https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2018002/510</a>, at the
Anchorage Field Office, and at the BLM Alaska State Office, BLM Alaska
Public Information Center.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Racheal Jones, BLM Project Manager,
telephone (907) 290-0307; address ANCSA 17(d)(1) EIS, BLM Anchorage
District Office, Attn: Racheal Jones, 4700 BLM Road. Anchorage, Alaska
99507; email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#3446555e5b5a5147745658591a535b42"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="6f1d0e0500010a1c2f0d030241080019">[email protected]</span></a>. Individuals in the United States who are
deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability may dial
711 (TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access telecommunications relay
services for contacting Ms. Jones. Individuals outside the United
States should use the relay services offered within their country to
make international calls to the point-of-contact in the United States.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Introduction: The U.S. Department of the
Interior (DOI), BLM Alaska State Office, prepared this EIS to evaluate
the effects of any Secretarial decision to open lands subject to the
Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) Section 17(d)(1)
withdrawals within the lands described in Public Land Orders (PLOs)
7899 through 7903. (The potential opening of the lands subject to these
17(d)(1) withdrawals is hereafter referred to as the project). PLOs
7900, 7901, 7902, and 7903, which would revoke withdrawals of lands in
the Ring of Fire, Bay, Bering Sea-Western Interior, and East Alaska
planning areas, respectively, were signed on January 15 and 16, 2021;
however, they were never published in the Federal Register. PLO 7899,
which would revoke withdrawals of lands in the Kobuk-Seward Peninsula
planning area, was signed on January 11, 2021, and published in the
Federal Register on January 19, 2021 (86 FR 5236). Subsequently, the
DOI identified certain procedural and legal defects in the decision-
making process for these PLOs, as described in the April 16, 2021,
Federal Register notice (86 FR 20193), including an insufficient
analysis under NEPA. The DOI extended the opening order for PLO 7899
until August 31, 2024, to provide an opportunity to review the
decisions and to ensure the orderly management of the public lands (88
FR 21207). The BLM is using this time to address identified
deficiencies and update the NEPA analysis supporting the decisions
regarding the PLOs now under review (the 2021 Action).
Purpose and Need for Action: The 2021 Action under review is
revocation of the ANCSA 17(d)(1) withdrawals as described in PLOs 7899,
7900, 7901, 7902, and 7903. This EIS evaluates the resource conditions
on these lands and incorporates and describes additional coordination
with other Federal agencies, State and local governments, federally
recognized Tribes, Alaska Native Corporations, and stakeholders to
ensure that the environmental analysis previously conducted will be
updated and expanded upon as appropriate. This additional analysis is
necessary to understand the impacts of revocation of the ANCSA 17(d)(1)
withdrawals; to correct errors in the previous decision-making process
regarding these withdrawals; and to ensure that opening these lands is
consistent with the purposes of ANCSA 17(d)(1), which requires that
``the public interest in these lands is properly protected,'' including
factors such as subsistence hunting and fishing, habitat connectivity,
protection of cultural resources, and protection of threatened and
endangered species. This evaluation is needed to make an informed
public interest determination to support revocation in full, revocation
in part, or full retention of the ANCSA 17(d)(1) withdrawals.
Alternatives: The BLM considered alternatives that would provide
different configurations of 17(d)(1) withdrawals that would be retained
or revoked in the five planning areas (Bay, Bering Sea-Western
Interior, East Alaska, Kobuk-Seward, and Ring of Fire). Each of the
alternatives identifies 17(d)(1) withdrawals in the five planning areas
as retained or revoked. The alternatives range from retaining the
withdrawals on all lands (Alternative A) to revoking the withdrawals on
all lands (Alternative D). Alternatives B and C include partial
revocations of the withdrawals.
Summary of Expected Impacts: The revocation of the withdrawal on
lands subject to State top filings under the Statehood Act would result
in the State's selections becoming effective and a resulting loss of
Federal subsistence priority applying to those lands. No development
plans have been submitted, and no stipulations are attached to the
lands that would prevent any specific development. Therefore, the EIS
provides a Reasonably Foreseeable Development scenario that identifies
and quantifies potential development activity in the decision area,
including the extraction of leasable, locatable, and salable minerals,
as well as the establishment of
[[Page 86926]]
associated rights-of-way, assuming the land is not withdrawn from
availability for such activities.
Full or partial revocation of the ANCSA 17(d)(1) withdrawals may
result in changes to land use that could affect local residents,
wildlife, vegetation, cultural resources, subsistence, and recreation
across up to 28 million acres of BLM-administered land in Alaska.
Schedule for the Decision-Making Process: The BLM will provide
opportunities for public participation consistent with the NEPA
processes, including a 60-day comment period on the Draft EIS. A
Secretarial decision is anticipated in Summer 2024, following the
publication of a Final EIS.
Public Involvement Process: This notice of availability initiates
the public comment period, which will guide the development and
analysis of the Final EIS. The BLM will evaluate all comments received
and is specifically soliciting comments related to how to minimize
effects to subsistence, cultural resources, and natural resources. The
BLM will be holding virtual and in-person public meetings and Alaska
National Interest Lands Conservation Act section 810 subsistence
hearings. The specific date(s) and location(s) of these meetings will
be announced in advance through email, social media, radio public
service announcements, local media, newspapers, and on the ePlanning
project page <a href="https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2018002/510">https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2018002/510</a>.
The input of Alaska Native Tribes and Corporations is of critical
importance to this EIS. Therefore, during the NEPA process, the BLM
will continue to consult with potentially affected Tribal Nations on a
government-to-government basis, and with affected Alaska Native
Corporations in accordance with Executive Order 13175, as well as
Public Law 108-199, Div. H, sec. 161, 118 Stat. 452, as amended by
Public Law 108-447, Div. H, sec. 518, 118 Stat. 3267, and other
Department and Bureau policies. The BLM respectfully requests
participation in consultation by Alaska Native Tribes and Alaska Native
Corporations to provide their views and recommendations on the
analysis, including effects from the proposed activities. The BLM will
hold individual consultation meetings upon request.
It is important that reviewers provide their comments at such times
and in such manner as are useful to the agency's preparation of the
Final EIS. Therefore, comments should be provided prior to the close of
the comment period and should clearly articulate the reviewer's
concerns and contentions.
Before including your address, phone number, email address, or
other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be
aware that your entire comment--including your personal identifying
information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you can
ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be
able to do so.
(Authority: 40 CFR 1506.6, 40 CFR 1506.10)
Steven Cohn,
Alaska State Director.
[FR Doc. 2023-27647 Filed 12-14-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4331-10-P
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